


Nightmares

by AnnaTheHank



Series: A/C/G ot3 [6]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I promise, It's All Okay In The End, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Nightmares, a lil angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-21 05:56:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19996978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaTheHank/pseuds/AnnaTheHank
Summary: Crowley has a nightmare that leads Gabriel to return to Heaven. However, the appearance of a familiar face leads him to believe that an angel may be up to no good.





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Okay  
> This one got away from me a bit.  
> Thank you all once again for stopping by to read <3  
> (also y'all can you believe that I've gotten attached to a background character I literally just wrote in to have a 2 minute conversation? send help)

Crowley slept a lot, Gabriel noted. If he wasn’t out doing whatever it was he did when he wasn’t at the bookshop (Gabriel was too afraid of the answer to ask, too afraid that Crowley was secretly back to working with Hell) he spent half the day sleeping, as well as the whole night. Gabriel couldn’t totally blame him. It did get a bit boring around when Aziraphale was busy. But whenever Gabriel felt like that he would go for a jog, or he’d run down to the coffee shop on the end of the street so he could enjoy a cup without those sly smiles Aziraphale and Crowley gave him when they caught him drinking it. 

Aziraphale had asked Gabriel to grab him a book from the back room. Technically the shop was open, but no one had been in all day. Gabriel mentioned that Aziraphale had forgotten to turn the closed sign to open, but he had ignored him.

Crowley was splayed out on the couch in the back. A children’s picture book about the moon was lying open on his chest, rising and falling with each of his breaths. His glasses were slightly askew. He was peaceful when he was asleep. Gabriel grabbed the book that Aziraphale had asked for but couldn't leave the room.

Crowley had started to make some noises. But they weren’t the happy noises he made when they had sex. They were frightful noises. And he was shaking his head a bit. And he was sweating.

“Crowley?” Gabriel asked, watching his body react to whatever was causing him distress. 

Crowley’s eyes snapped open, his body lurching into a sitting position. The glasses slid off his face and the book fell to the floor. Crowley’s eyes, a stark, deep, and full yellow bounced around the room before landing on Gabriel. They were opened wide with fear.

“Are-are you okay?” Gabriel asked.

Crowley shivered a little. His breath came out in harsh forces. He shrank away from Gabriel a bit, his eyes still trained on him, still scared.

“Is everything-” 

Gabriel took a step toward him, but Crowley was scattering off the couch, running away. 

“Aziraphale!” He called out, rushing from the room. “Aziraphale!”

Gabriel followed slowly.

Aziraphale was already up and on the way, the two of them meeting halfway between. Crowley wrapped his arms around Aziraphale’s waist, burying his nose in Aziraphale’s neck. 

“Oh, my dear boy,” Aziraphale said. He wrapped Crowley up in a hug, one hand rubbing his back. “Did you have another nightmare?”

Crowley nodded against Aziraphale, his muscles tightening the hug. 

“There, there,” Aziraphale whispered. “It’s alright. We’re alright.”

Gabriel placed the book on the table beside him without a sound. He knew what Crowley had had a nightmare about. It was about him. About heaven and hell and the deaths that almost were. He had dreamt about Gabriel killing Aziraphale and cold guild settled in his stomach like a weight. 

He didn’t bother to say goodbye. They wouldn't want him to. He wasn’t even sure why they had put up with him for so long anyway. If he was them, he would have turned himself away the second he showed up at that bookshop door. 

But Crowley and Aziraphale were better than him. At least, in that regard. Aziraphale had been a bit spooked at first, understandably. But Gabriel had given him his well rehearsed speech about wanting to see why humanity and Earth was so important to die over. And Aziraphale’s eyes had gotten that spark of life in them and he had immediately taken him out to the park to feed the ducks. 

Aziraphale had welcomed Gabriel into his home, and later, into his relationship. And Gabriel really couldn't see why. 

-

Crowley stood by the door to the bedroom, looking down at the ground, leaning against the door frame a bit. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Whatever for, darling?” Aziraphale asked, settling himself in bed.

Crowley slumped forward, his feet dragging against the ground. “It’s my fault he left.”

“Crowley.” Aziraphale reached out, grabbing Crowley’s arm and pulling him down. Crowley curled into Aziraphale’s body. “You had absolutely nothing to do with his decision to leave, alright?”

“I think I scared him,” Crowley mumbled. He pressed himself against Aziraphale’s body, grabbing at his clothes. 

“You are very spooky, darling, but I don’t think you did.” 

Crowley didn’t know how to explain it. He wished Gabriel hadn’t been there when he had his nightmare. He objectively knew that Gabriel was no longer a threat, that he wasn’t going to try and kill them. At least, he was about 90% sure of it. But he was still trapped in that dream when he woke up. Was still seeing Gabriel through the fire, was still picturing the body that wasn't his being destroyed, was still losing Aziraphale. He hadn’t meant to run away from Gabriel. He just wanted to run to Aziraphale. He sighed.

“We’re not even sure where he went,” Aziraphale whispered. He ran his fingers through Crowley’s hair. “He could have just had to go take care of some important business. He is still an angel, you know.”

“Yeah. Could of.” 

-

Gabriel loved his office. It had the best view. Of course, every angel would argue that their office had the best view but Gabriel’s really did. He was ignoring the enormous pile of paperwork on his desk, choosing instead to stare out the window, leaning back in his chair.

“Gabriel,” Michael said, walking into the room. They placed another pile of papers on his desk and he tried not to sneer at them. “Good to see you back.” They stood before his desk, hands behind their back. “Did you enjoy your vacation?”

Gabriel tore his attention away, forcing himself to focus on Michael. “Yes,” he said. 

There was a strange moment of silence. Michael looked at Gabriel with high eyebrows, clearly expecting more information. Gabriel sat with his hands on his desk, unwilling to give it to them. 

“There’s been a lot of demonic activity in Australia,” Michael said. They took the top paper off the stack and slid it over. “We think they may be planning something.”

Gabriel took the paper and studied it. He hummed. 

“Jophiel’s there now,” Michael said. “He’s reported unusually high numbers of demon gatherings and temptations. He may need back up.”

“Of course.” 

Gabriel opened the drawer to his left and pulled out the list of field agents. He scanned over the lists of names and current assignments. Everyone was already busy. Seems like there was an increase of demonic activity all over the world ever since the incident. Gabriel thought that if he asked Aziraphale he might be willing to lend a hand. He had refused to return to heaven but he was still an angel. He still liked humanity and would want to help.

But that would require Gabriel actually having to go and talk to him. Which wasn’t happening. 

“Well, Muriel can handle what’s happening in Russia alone,” Gabriel said. “And we can have Pahaliah join Jophiel.”

Michael nodded and picked up their stack of papers, taking the report back from Gabriel. “You know, if it gets bad you could always join them. Seeing as how you like it down there so much now.”

Gabriel blinked at them. “If there’s a need, I’m sure we’d all be happy to lend a hand.”

Michael gave him a tight smile and turned on their heel, walking out of the room with purposeful strides.

Gabriel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. He had missed Heaven, and the angels, while he was down there. But he certainly could do without those comments. He leaned back in his chair, resuming his task of ignoring his work and staring out his window.

-

Crowley was still dragging his feet the next day, moping about as he made himself some coffee. He shuffled his way around, robe hanging loose off his body. He moved down to Aziraphale’s study, making an exasperated sigh as he did so.

“Darling,” Aziraphale said. He put his book down on his desk and took his glasses off. He turned in his chair, holding his arms out for Crowley. Crowley slumped forward, crawling into his lap. “What’s got you so glum today?”

Crowley grumbled, curling up with his head under Aziraphale’s chin. Aziraphale chuckled and wrapped him up in a hug. He kissed the top of his head.

“How about we go out for lunch, hm? We can go for a picnic in the park.” He smoothed the hair down on Crowley’s head. “Haven't done that in a while. It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah,” Crowley mumbled. “Sounds fun.”

Crowley sat up, kissing Aziraphale on the cheek. He stopped when he heard the bell above the shop door ring.

“I thought you were closed today,” Crowley said. 

“I am,” Aziraphale said.

They both looked towards the entrance to the shop, where they could hear someone walking around. Their steps were slow, uncertain. They looked at each other and shared the same ecstatic thought: Gabriel.

-

Gabriel shuffled the papers around on his desk, not really reading any of them. There was simply too much activity going on. It almost seemed as if Hell wanted a war with or without the apocalypse. They were swarming all over Earth, and more than half the angels in heaven had been temporarily posted for field duty while they sorted everything out. 

Gabriel had managed to successfully avoid getting that position. After all, he was needed here, to organize and plan and keep order. It had fooled everyone except for him. He had tried to tell himself that was the real reason he was staying up here when Earth so desperately needed help. He knew if he went back down there he’d end up back that bookshop, one way or another.

Gabriel sighed and actually started going through the files. Maybe if he went somewhere that wasn’t so close by. Pahaliah and Jophiel were having trouble keeping up in Australia. Certainly that was far enough to keep him away.

“‘Scuse me.”

Phanuel was standing by his door, holding a clipboard in their hand. 

“Yes?”

“I have those reports for the London region for you.” Phanuel stepped up to the desk, holding the clipboard out. 

Gabriel shook his head. “I...I didn’t request any reports.”

Phanuel scratched their head. They flipped the papers on the clipboard over, holding the last sheet out to Gabriel. “It’s got your signature.”

Gabriel leaned forward and studied the page. Oh yes. He had forgotten. He had put a watch on Aziraphale’s activities after the whole incident. He had meant it to be an assurance that the rogue angel wasn’t up to any untoward activities. It had turned into a curiosity project instead. Which had turned into this strange (dare he say) relationship.

“Oh. Right. Thank you.”

Phanuel smiled, leaving the clipboard on the desk. “You know,” they said, stopping by the door. “If I may say, I think your vacation did more harm than good.”

Gabriel gave them a look. “How’s that now?”

“You seem distracted. And...hurt.”

Gabriel tried to smile at them, the effort drowned out by the fear of what they might discover. “I assure you I’m perfectly alright. Just a lot of work.” He gestured to the papers on his desk and Phanuel nodded, finally leaving him.

Gabriel deflated into his seat with a sigh. He looked at the clipboard on his desk and told himself not to touch it. It didn’t matter what they were up to. They were probably doing just fine. They were probably enjoying the fact that he was gone. They probably threw a big party and invited all their human friends to join in and laugh at him.

Gabriel growled a bit and snatched the clipboard up. He scanned through the pages, looking for any mention of a large gathering of people at the bookshop. He didn’t see anything like that, outside of an unusually large number of customers a few Fridays ago. According to the gossip magazines, a giant snake had scared them all off. 

Gabriel sighed and placed the clipboard back on the desk. Something on the front page caught his eye. He picked it back up, reading more carefully. There were reports of a demon arriving in the area, a few streets away from the bookstore. No one had been able to properly identify them yet.

Shaking his head, Gabriel let the clipboard drop again. He sat back in his chair, folding his hands on his lap and looking out the window. He couldn’t go running to London because a demon showed up. Demons showed up all over the place. London had seen its fair share in the past. Besides, he told himself. It was probably just Crowley messing around. No. He couldn’t go. He did have to stay here to organize and prepare and provide support. 

Besides. Crowley and Aziraphale aren’t stupid. If it was anything to worry about they’d be fine. They can handle themselves.

-

Aziraphale blinked his eyes open, vision blurry. He remembered getting hit on the head. And now he was chained to a chair. He forced his eyes to work, panic gripping at him like a steel vice. He was still in his book shop, though all the curtains on the window had been drawn. The filtered sunlight left the room dark, but Aziraphale could still make out Crowley, who was chained up next to him.

“Crowley,” Aziraphale whispered. “Crowley wake up.”

Crowley’s head lulled to the side, his eyes opening slowly. “Aziraphale…?”

“Oh good,” a familiarly evil voice said. “You’re up.”

Aziraphale turned his head to the side. Hastur emerged from the shadows of the shelves, grinning as he walked before them.

“Hastur,” Crowley hissed. He struggled forward, the chains holding him back. He looked down. He struggled again.

Aziraphale, too, tried to get loose. But not even a miracle seemed to be working. 

“Something wrong?” Hastur asked. He cackled, his voice a high pitch. 

“What have you done to us?” Aziraphale asked.

“Oh, just a bit of old magic,” Hastur explained. 

“Let us go,” Crowley said. “Or else!”

“Or else what?” Hastur smirked. “You’re stuck. Right where I want you.”

“And exactly why do you want us?” Aziraphale asked. He knew exactly what these chains were. And there was no way a demon could have them. Not without the help of an angel, that is.

Hastur leaned back a bit. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Revenge,” Crowley said, his teeth clenched hard.

“Exactly. You really thought you could get away with killing Ligur? The others may be afraid of you, but I’m not.”

“So what’s the big plan?” Crowley asked. “You can’t kill us.”

Aziraphale glanced at him, hopping Hastur would continue to believe that. 

“Maybe not,” Hastur said. “But I can torture you.”

Aziraphale huffed. “Really? You plan to just keep us tied up for eternity?”

“Why not? It’s not like anyone’s going to come looking for you.” Hastur smiled, a gruesome sight to behold.

“Is that so?”

Aziraphale and Crowley both looked to each other, but it was neither of them that had spoken. 

Hastur looked behind them, Aziraphale and Crowley trying to twist to see who had arrived. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Gabriel stepped into view and Aziraphale and Crowley let out a breath of relief. 

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Hastur said. He took a tentative step back.

“And if you value your pitiful excuse of a life, you won’t be.”

Hastur glanced between the three of them. His mouth moved slightly as he mulled the situation over.

“This isn’t over,” he said, pointing at Crowley, before disappearing. 

“Thank goodness you showed up when you did,” Aziraphale said. Gabriel knelt down behind them to undo the chains. 

“Yeah,” Crowley agreed. “I’ve never been more excited to see your dumb face in my life.”

“Crowley!” Aziraphale pulled his hands to the front, rubbing his wrists a bit. “He’s just saved us. Don’t be mean.”

“It was compliment!” Crowley got to his feet, stretching a bit.

“How was that a compliment?”

“You know. It’s like, endearing.”

“Do you even know what that word means?”

Crowley opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Gabriel, who was staring at the chains on the floor. 

“Where did Hastur get these?” Gabriel’s voice was deep, and slow.

“One of your lot probably gave them to him,” Crowley said. He stuff his hands in his pocket, unable to look at the expression on Gabriel’s face. 

“No,” Gabriel said. “They wouldn’t. No angel would work with a demon.”

Aziraphale and Crowley didn’t mention their own little Agreement. 

“Well, you did work together that one time,” Crowley said. “Ya know. When you tried to kill us and all.”

“That was a one time deal.” Gabriel looked over to Aziraphale. “That’s over.”

“Clearly not,” Aziraphale said. His heart ached. He had once believed that angels were above such things. But nothing like that surprised him anymore. It was a harsh realization, and he wished he could protect Gabriel from it. He cleared his throat. “Why don’t we go out for dinner,” he said, his voice wavering. “Calm our nerves a bit.”

“No.” Gabriel picked up the chains. “I have to know who did this.”

He was gone before Aziraphale or Crowley could get another word out. Crowley frowned. “Well, that was weird.”

“I hope he’ll be alright,” Aziraphale fretted. “They don’t do well with angels who start asking questions, do they?”

Crowley managed a smirk. “You said something about dinner, right?”

-

Gabriel straightened his tie and went to meet with Michael. He found them walking from their office to the main hall and he stopped them, holding a hand out. 

“Michael,” Gabriel said. “I have some...concerning news I wish to discuss with you.”

“Oh?” Michael adjusted their stance, almost as if preparing for a fight, Gabriel noticed. “What’s that?”

“It seems a demon was sent to capture Aziraphale,” Gabriel said. “He was using these.” Gabriel held up the chains. 

“Oh?” Michael’s lips pursed. 

“What I’d like to know,” Gabriel said, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket with his free hand, “is why your signature is on the release forms for them.”

Michael’s face twitched into a smile. “Well. Thought it’d be a nice, clean way to deal with him,” they said. “No blood on our hands, hmm?”

Gabriel sighed. “We don’t need to deal with him. He’s not hindering our operations and we can’t risk valuable resources on him.”

“I suppose it’s a shame someone stepped in and diffused the situation,” Michael said.

“Yes. I suppose it is.”

They stared at each other.

Michael knew it was Gabriel.

Gabriel knew that Michael knew.

Michael knew that Gabriel knew that Michael knew.

Neither one of them said anything.

“Should be getting back to work then,” Michael said.

“Of course.” Gabriel stepped to the side, holding his hand to the side. They smiled at each other and went on their ways.

-

Aziraphale and Crowley hadn’t been in the bookshop and Gabriel tried not to panic as he checked their regular spots. He could breathe again when he found them sitting at their bench in the park. He approached them.

“Gabriel!” Aziraphale said, jumping up. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright. We were worried.”

“Sorry,” Gabriel said. He looked down at Crowley, who was looking up at them, his pose still relaxed. “I didn’t mean to leave so abruptly.”

“Oh, well, you had a mystery to solve,” Aziraphale said. “Did you solve it?”

“Not then. Before.”

“Oh.”

Crowley adjusted his posture, looking away from them, his arms crossed. 

“Well, it’s alright. You’re back now.” Aziraphale’s eyes scanned over Gabriel’s face. “Right.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to go back up,” Gabriel said. “This has been...concerning. I can’t be away for long. I’m sure you understand.”

Aziraphale gave a good effort at a smile, his body deflating a bit. “Of course.”

“But, I’m sure I’ll still have to come down from time to time,” Gabriel started.

Aziraphale reached out, his smile genuine, and grabbed Gabriel’s arm. “You know you are always welcome here.”

“Thank you. I, uh, have some time right now,” Gabriel said, a soft blush forming on his face. “Maybe we can do that dinner now? Or, uh, lunch I guess.”

“Of course.” Aziraphale turned his smile to Crowley, who was actively scowling at the ducks. “Wouldn’t that be nice, dear?”

Crowley grumbled, his body tense. 

“Is...is he okay?” Gabriel asked. “Should-should I go?”

“Go? Of course not.”

Gabriel looked at Crowley and sighed. He knew he shouldn’t have come back. “I’ll, uh, just…”

He risked a glance at Aziraphale’s face before turning to leave. Crowley would never be comfortable around him again, which meant he would never get to be around Aziraphale again, because the two of them are always together. And Gabriel didn’t belong there.

He heard Crowley growl and then felt a hand grab his arm, holding him back. He turned, Crowley’s grip tightening on him.

“I’m...sorry,” he said, forcing each word out with all the energy in his body.

“What?”

“Oh, don’t make me say it again!” Crowley snapped, releasing him and taking a step back.

Gabriel looked to Aziraphale for answers. 

“He didn’t mean to scare you the other day,” Aziraphale said. “He’s sorry.” Crowley huffed and turned away.

“I wasn’t scared,” Gabriel assured them. “I was just…”

“Hurt?” Aziraphale suggested. Gabriel nodded.

“Idiot,” Crowley mumbled. He turned around again, his face still scowling. “We’re not scared of you.” He scoffed. “As if you could hurt us.”

Gabriel was still figuring the demon out, but he knew enough now to know that Crowley was trying to be nice. 

“Well, then.” He looked between the two of them. “Lunch?”


End file.
